More of a Mom

Books about Writers

Angela — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:53:15 +0000

Writer:

Dr. Suess

Childhood of Famous Americans Dr. Suess Young Author and Artist

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Childhood of Famous Americans Laura Ingalls Wilder Young Pioneer

Louisa May Alcott

Childhood of Famous Americans Louisa May Alcott Young Novelist

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, The Man Who Had Great Expectations
The Value of Imagination, The Story of Charles Dickens by Spencer Johnson

Using scaffolding surrounding our house, my children played a game they called "Debtor's Prison" inspired by this book.

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix by Jeannette Winter

Sweet, simple book with Beatrix Potter's own words included throughout.

Beatrix Potter, A Life in Nature by Linda Lear

Adult biography for your own inspiration.

Hans Christian Andersen

The Value of Fantasy, The Story of Hans Christian Andersen by Spencer Johnson

Books to Inspire Career Choices

Angela — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:34:10 +0000

Air and Space:

Amelia Earhart

Childhood of Famous Americans Amelia Earhart Young Aviator

Neil Armstrong

Childhood of Famous Americans Neil Armstrong Young Flier

Wright Brothers

Childhood of Famous Americans Wilbur and Orville Wright Young Fliers
The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk by Donald J. Sobol

Doctor:

Elizabeth Blackwell

Childhood of Famous Americans Elizabeth Blackwell Girl Doctor

Entreprenuer:

Henry Ford

Childhood of Famous Americans Henry Ford Young Man with Ideas

Milton Hershey

Childhood of Famous Americans Milton Hershey Young Chocolatier

Farmer:

George Washington

Farmer George Plants a Nation

Naturalist:

John Muir

Childhood of Famous Americans John Muir Young Naturalist

Nursing:

Clara Barton

Childhood of Famous Americans Clara Barton Founder of the American Red Cross

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale

Heart and Soul The Story of Florence Nightingale

Scientist:

Albert Einstein

Childhood of Famous Americans Albert Einstein Young Thinker

Thomas Edison

Childhood of Famous Americans Thomas Edison Young Inventor

Statesman or Leader:

Abraham Lincoln

Childhood of Famous Americans Abraham Lincoln The Great Emancipator
Abraham Lincoln The Boy The Man by Lloyd Ostendorf My all time favorite book about Abraham Lincoln! Comprised of individual blurbs about Lincoln's life each illustrated with pen and ink drawings or rare photos.
The Value of Respect by Ann Donegan Johnson

Benjamin Franklin

Childhood of Famous Americans Benjamin Franklin Young Printer

George Washington

Childhood of Famous Americans George Washington Young Leader

John Adams

Childhood of Famous Americans John Adams Young Revolutionary
A Picture Book of John and Abigail Adams

John F Kennedy

Childhood of Famous Americans John Fitzgerald Kennedy America's Youngest President

Ronald Reagan

Childhood of Famous Americans Ronald Reagan Young Leader

Susan B Anthony

Childhood of Famous Americans Susan B Anthony Champion of Women's Rights

Thomas Jefferson

Childhood of Famous Americans Tom Jefferson Third President of the United States

Technology:

Walt Disney

Childhood of Famous Americans Walt Disney Young Movie Maker

Writer:

Dr. Suess

Childhood of Famous Americans Dr. Suess Young Author and Artist

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Childhood of Famous Americans Laura Ingalls Wilder Young Pioneer

Louisa May Alcott

Childhood of Famous Americans Louisa May Alcott Young Novelist

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, The Man Who Had Great Expectations
The Value of Imagination, The Story of Charles Dickens by Spencer Johnson

Using scaffolding surrounding our house, my children played a game they called "Debtor's Prison" inspired by this book.

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix by Jeannette Winter

Sweet, simple book with Beatrix Potter's own words included throughout.

Beatrix Potter, A Life in Nature by Linda Lear

Adult biography for your own inspiration.

Hans Christian Andersen

The Value of Fantasy, The Story of Hans Christian Andersen by Spencer Johnson

Books about Russia

Angela — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:26:04 +0000

The Fool and the Flying Ship

A fun picture book about a Czar proclaims that he will marry his daughter to the man who brings him a flying ship, the Fool of the World sets out to try his luck and meets some unusual companions on the way.

The Littlest Matryoshka by Corinne Demas Bliss

A sweet picture book introducing the history of Russian Matryoshka dolls. My little girls all love this story. We finished the lesson by painting our own matryoshka dolls.

The Magic Nesting Doll by Jacqueline K. Ogburn

Another story of matryoshka dolls. This story is based on a Russian folktale.

Anastasia's Album by Hugh Brewster

This picture books shares the story of Anastasia, the daughter of the last Tsar in Russia. Check out wikipedia for interesting background knowledge about Anastasia Romanov.

The Endless Steppe Growing up in Siberia

One of our family's all-time favorite books! An autobiographical story about a young jewish girl growing up in Siberia during World War II. This book is a perfect read-aloud for the whole family.

The Defender by Nicholas Kalashnikoff

Turgen, a shepherd in northeastern Siberia, defends the wild mountain rams and befriends a widow and her children. My 10 year old son loved this book.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A classic Russian novel. Inspire love of Russian literature through your own example and study.

Number Devil Activites: The Eleventh Night

Angela — Sat, 29 May 2010 22:26:47 +0000

On the eleventh night, the Number Devil helps Robert understand why all the cool tricks he has taught him really matter.

1) Lord Russell:

Lord Rustle in the dream world, but Bertrand Russell in the real world searched for knowledge for his nearly 100 years on earth. Among many other accomplishments, he is a famous mathematician. Learn more about him and create a notebook page about him. If you have a timeline, you can print his picture and add him to it.

2) Pigeon Hole Proof:

The Number Devil explains that proofs are used as stepping stones to understand more in the field of mathematics. Explore the Pigeon Hole Proof to better understand what a proof is and why it is useful.

This website gives a clear, brief explanation of what the pigeon hole principle is and 16 fun applications to help understand it. Have each student write 27 words on a piece of paper. Explain to them that because of a mathematical proof you are sure that each of them wrote at least two words that start with the same letter. This must be true because there are 26 letters in the alphabet and 27 words on their paper. This is a demonstration of the pigeon hole principle. Discuss some of the other examples on the website. Try the proof again with a miniature chess board and eight dominoes. The worksheet and the explanation of the proof can be found here.

3) Chocolate Bar Proof:

Start with a candy bar that is scored into smaller bars- at least 3 sections across and 4 in length. Have children guess the minimum number of breaks it will take to break the candy bar into all the small sections. In small groups pass the candy bar around letting each child make one break until the bar is in individual sections. Count how many breaks you make along the way. How many breaks did each group make? (The number should be the same for every group). How close were the children's guesses? The proof says that there will always be one more piece than the number of breaks it takes to separate them. For example at the beginning there was no breaks and one piece, then there was one break and two pieces, and two breaks and three pieces and so on.

Number Devil Activities: The Tenth Night

Angela — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:48:22 +0000

On the tenth night of The Number Devil, Robert finds himself freezing in a snowy scene and exploring the golden ratio.

The Snowflake Formula:

Did you know there is a mathematical formula to make a snowflake? A Swedish mathematician, Helge von Koch depicted a mathematical curve that creates a fractal made from equilateral triangles. Check out this animation of the "snowflake" formula in action. Make your own snowflake fractal. Print and cut out these triangles. In the center of a blue piece of paper, glue one of the two largest triangles. Next glue the other large triangle upside down to make a Star of David shape. On each of the 6 points glue the 6 medium triangles to make 6 more Stars of David. Repeat for the 18 small triangles.

Bonus: Can you make 54 smaller triangles to glue on the tips of the last 18 Stars of David?

Bonus 2: Learn more about Helge von Koch. Create a notebook page for him. At the top of the page you might give him a nickname that will help you remember who he is such as Snowflake Designer.

Define:

What is an unreasonable number? Look at the "Seek and Ye Shall Find List" in the back of the Number Devil for the official term and review what it is.

Discovery of the Golden Ratio:

The Number Devil introduces Robert to the most beautiful number known to man. Didn't know numbers could be beautiful? Well, the number is 1.618... I bet you're rolling your eyes with Robert wondering how an irrational number such as 1.618 can be beautiful. 1.618 is called the golden ratio and it is found through out the human body, nature, art, and architecture. Practice your own calculations to find the golden ratio in any two numbers just like the Number Devil with this simple to follow worksheet. Next, learn more about the golden ratio. This website has an easy to understand definition and great activities.

The Invention of a Quang:

What is a quang? Who knows? It's from the Number Devil's own imagination. Invent your own measurement. Using a strip of cardstock or posterboard make markings equally along the edge to show how long your measurement is. What are you going to call it? How does it compare to a standard measurement such as an inch or a millimeter (ie. Is it about 2 1/2 inches or 22 millimeters)?

Testing D + S - L = 1:

Choose an item to represent a line and a dot. It could be red vines and life savers or pretzel rods and banana chips or Tinkertoys sticks and wheels. Create your own figures with a dot at both ends of every line, as demonstrated by the Number Devil on page 203. Record your findings on this lab sheet.

Build Your Own Polyhedron:

The Number Devil gives several polyhedron examples on pages 204-210. Use these patterns to build your own. What is the name of your polyhedron?

Bonus: In this lesson we've made polygons and polyhedrons. Define each. What is the difference?

Bonus 2: Do you crochet? Try crochetting this dodecahedron.

Review:

Who is Bonacci? Look back at your notebook page if you need help remembering.

Number Devil Activities: The Ninth Night

Angela — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:19:56 +0000

Is it infinity or half of infinity?

The ninth chapter of The Number Devil submits the mind-boggling idea of infinity to young mathematicians and reflects back on concepts already introduced.

1) Infinite Poem

Write an acronym poem for the word "infinite". Each line may be one word describing infinity or an entire sentence about things that are infinite. Be creative. Use a thesaurus for help coming up with synonyms for infinite. Here's a simple example:

Incalculable

Never-ending

Frustrating

Inexhaustible

Numberless

Immeasurable

Tremendous

Everlasting

2) Number Pattern Bingo

For this game you'll need a bingo card for each student and one sheet of call-out words cut out, folded in half and placed in a bowl. There are six different bingo cards, but multiple children can have identical cards. Following the traditional rules of bingo, call out the kind of number to cover and any number that fits in that category can be covered, but only one number can be covered with each call. For example, if "Fibonacci Number" was called out then the students could cover the 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89, or 144. But only one Fibonacci number would be covered at that time. The students will find that there is some strategy involved since some numbers are in more patterns, such as the number "1". Here are cheat sheets to help identify which number is in which pattern.

3) Greater Than and Less Than Fractions

Use this worksheet generator to make a greater than or less than fraction worksheet. It is free and does not require signing up.

Number Devil Activities: The Eighth Night

Angela — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:15:02 +0000

1) Permutation Relay:

Since we don't live in the dream world, it is important to know the real world names for things that the Number Devil introduces. When Robert tries to find all the possibilities for how to seat his classmates this is called "permutations". Let's have fun with permutations doing a permutation relay. Give each child a red square of paper, a blue square of paper and a white square of paper. Separate the group into two teams. Have the teams line up for a relay style race. The first child from each team runs to the board/wall and puts up their 3 papers in a line, in any order. They run back, tag the next person who then runs to the board and puts up their 3 papers in a line, in any order except the order of the other person on their team. This continues until all six permutations have been discovered. The team that gets all their permutations up first is the winner.

2) More about Permutations?

Want to learn more about permutations? Watch this online video to learn how to make tree diagrams to understand better how permutations work.

3) Vrooms! are Factorials:

Factorial worksheet

Answer key

The Number Devil calls them "vrooms", but we know them as factorials. The factorial symbol is "!" The Number Devil shows us that factorials are useful in figuring out permutations or in other words, how many different ways a certain number of things can be arranged. The Number Devil shows Robert that to figure out how many possible ways to arrange his classmate's seats all Robert has to do is multiply the number of people by all the whole numbers below the number of people except zero. Pretend you're in Robert's class and you want to figure out the number of possibilities for arranging your classmate's seats. Fill in the blank spaces to complete the chart. For more information about factorials check out this website.

Number Devil Activities: The Seventh Night

Angela — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:34:18 +0000

On the seventh night of The Number Devil, Robert is introduced to Pascal's triangle. These amusing activities will bring the chapter to life.

1) Blaise Pascal:

Pascal is the famous mathematician from the 17th century that created the triangle the Number Devil teaches about to Robert. Read about Pascal in Mathematicians are People, Too or do an internet search to learn about him. Create this notebook page about him. If you have a timeline, add him to it.

2) Pascal's Triangle Practice:

Use this worksheet to fill out Pascal's triangle. Can you do it without looking at your book? Remember start by writing 1's along the edges then add the two boxes that are touching together and write the answer in the box below it.

3) Fimo Fractals Craft:

Make Fimo Fractals. Compare your fractals to the picture on page 142 of The Number Devil

4) Pascal's Fitness Challenge:

Print a copy of Pascal's Triangle Fitness Challenge.

Choose an exercise to do each day for the next week such as sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, or laps around the house.

We are going to use the second, third, and fourth diagonal lines of Pascal's triangle to accomplish our challenge. The second diagonal line shows the day of the challenge (ie. 1, 2, 3, 4 , etc.), the third diagonal shows the number of exercises to do (ie. 1, 3, 6, 10,etc.), the fourth diagonal shows the total number of exercises you've done with all the days combined (ie. 1, 4, 10, 15, etc.).

This copy of Pascal's triangle is color-code to help visualize the lines. The green line is the day of the challenge, the blue line is the number of exercise to do, and the purple line is the total number of exercises you've done all together.

Here's an example of how it works: The first day you do one push-up for a total of 1 all together; the second day you do 3 push-ups for a total of 4 all together; the third day you do 6 push-ups for a total of 10 all together. Can you keep up with the challenge for a week? After a week you'd have done 84 push-up all together! To track your progress color in the squares that correlate with that day. For example, after you do one push-up on day one you color the three 1's and after you do three push-ups on day two you color in the 2, 3, and 4. The next day you'll be coloring in the 3, 6, and 10. You can choose a different color for each day if you'd like.

5) Probability with Pascal:

The number devil introduces Robert to Pascal's triangle. Examine how Pascal's triangle is used in probability. This fabulous lesson (click on Pascal's triangle) shows how Pascal's triangle figures probability.

I Spy a Snuggle

Angela — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:13:30 +0000

Learning has never been more sweet. Snuggle up with your toddler under an "I Spy" quilt. This is the "I Spy" quilt I made for my two year old daughter. We cozy up together and talk about all that we find.

To make your own "I Spy" quilt, choose 25 to 30 different swatches of fabric with fun kid prints in either quilting cotton or flannel and the same number of solid colored swatches. You'll also need a solid piece of fabric for the back, batting, and yarn or something to tie the quilt together. I used 28 six inch squares with my daughters favorite things… monkeys, ducks, ballerinas, trains, teddy bears, puppies, baseballs. I used 28 six inch squares of denim between each patterned square. Cut and lay out the quilt squares. My quilt was seven squares wide and eight squares long. Stitch together the squares in each row then stitch the rows together. Tie the back fabric to the quilt top with the batting in between. I used embroidery floss, but you could also use yarn or ribbon or machine quilt the pieces together. Bind the quilt. I left a little more than an inch of the flannel backing and rolled it over the edge and stitched it to the front.

Harriet Tubman for Kids: Bravery Against Slavery

Dunking on the Airplane

Angela — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:33:43 +0000

Kids love to dunk their foods into ketchup, ranch dressing, peanut butter or whatever. Help your airplane snacks take flight by packing savory sauces to dunk into during your next trip.

Look for individual containers that are three ounces or less.

Lunch Box Items:

Apples to dip in caramel

Celery to dip in peanut butter

Cucumbers, bell peppers, and carrots to dip in ranch dressing

Pita chips or veggie sticks to dip in hummus

Teddy Grahams to dip in yogurt

Tortilla chips to dip in salsa